Amanda Peterson's Mom Remembers Their Last Day Together: She Was in 'Very Good Spirits'

by Alex Ungerman
2:18 PM PDT, July 07, 2015

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Amanda Peterson's Mom Remembers Their Last Day Together: She Was in 'Very Good Spirits'

After the shocking passing of Amanda Peterson -- who starred opposite Patrick Dempsey in the 1987 romantic comedy Can't Buy Me Love -- at age 43 in her Colorado home, her mother, Sylvia is speaking out to ET about their last moments together.

"Amanda was in very good spirits," Sylvia said of her last meeting with her daughter on Wednesday, noting that she did not seem ill at all. The two were gardening. While recalling details from her daughter's life, Sylvia shared pictures of Amanda from happier times.

On Friday, Amanda and her mother were to have dinner together. When Friday came, and Amanda did not answer Sylvia's call, she just assumed her daughter was "irked" with her.

Sylvia told ET that Amanda lived alone and while she suffered drug problems when she was younger. According to Sylvia, she had been clean for a long time.

"This was not, in any way, a drug thing," Sylvia said after news of her daughter’s death broke.

Attempting to make sense of her daughter’s untimely death, Sylvia revealed that Amanda did suffer from depression and sleep apnea, but had no major heart problems as far as she was aware. Sylvia also noted that Amanda previously lived in a house with mold, but had moved out two years prior.

Sylvia told ET that Amanda was found in her bed. The former actress allegedly passed away on Friday, though her body was not discovered in her Greeley, Colorado home until Sunday. Her death is still under investigation and a basic toxicology test has been conducted.

Amanda left the movie industry a few years after Can't Buy Me Love. ET spoke to the young actress in 1988, who expressed a dissatisfaction with Hollywood's well-tread road of roles for teenagers.

"Hollywood especially tries – well, I don't know if it tries to or not -- but it cliches these teenagers and it's really bothersome," said Amanda. "After a while every guy is trying to lose his virginity and every girl is whatever and, you know, they're like party animals."

Amanda had an 8-year-old daughter Stella, who lives with her father. Her family is traveling to Colorado today.